Stars
by Mighty ANT
Summary: Pre-movie- A small moment between the Lorax and Once-ler, mirrored several years later by the latter and Ted.


_**Stars**_

_The Lorax story and its characters belong to Random House, and Illumination Studios. And Dr. Seuss, of course. Reviews are love :T_

* * *

_The small, iridescent blips hung high in the ebony sky, perfect and bright, only outshone by the waxing moon in the midst of them._

_Lying on the grass beside the river, in the shadow of a few Truffula Trees, the Once-ler observed the heavens with a critical eye, arms folded behind his head, and the smallest of Barbaloots snuggled into the crook of his neck. A yellow-mustached creature lay beside him, furry hands clasped over his stomach. _

"_So…are there like a billion other planets out there?" the young man questioned suddenly, lifting an arm to gesture towards the sky, taking care not to dislodge Pipsqueak from his perch. _

_The Lorax shrugged absently. "Yeah, more or less."_

"_Wow…" the Once-ler murmured, placing his gangly arm behind his head again. "Y'know," he began contemplatively, "when they invent space travel, I'm gonna be one of the first to go up there."_

_The creature beside him snorted. "Believe me, it's overrated."_

_The Once-ler blinked for a few seconds, before carefully shrugging off his perplexity. He looked up at the stars for a few minutes more, before glancing at his silent companion. He saw the Lorax looking skyward as well, but not towards the heavens. His eyes were locked on the top of the Truffula Trees hanging over them. _

"_So how have sales been?" the Lorax asked after a moment. _

_The man bristled, but managed a stiff shrug. "Eh…you know…okay, I guess…."_

"_No one's interested, huh?" the miniature creature smirked. _

"_Yep," he said, once again removing a hand from behind his head to tiredly run it down his face. "I can't even count how many tomatoes have been thrown at me."_

_His companion sent him an apologetic look. "Well at least that enforces the fact that you won't cut anymore trees down."_

_The Once-ler's brow furrowed. "But I already promised not to cut anymore down. And even if I did, couldn't you use your 'powers'?"_

_The Lorax sent him a withering look. "I already told you that it doesn't work like that. I'm just here to speak for the trees."_

"_Right, right," the man sighed, letting his arm go limp across his stomach. His companion watched him for a moment. _

"_Hey," the Lorax began, "where's that irrational sense of optimism?"_

"_I'm pretty sure it left that same time that first tomato hit me in the face."_

_The Lorax chuckled, before glancing at the Bar-ba-loot snuggled into the base of the man's neck. Pipsqueak yawned widely, revealing his rows of small teeth, before huddling further into the Once-ler's neck. "He's gotten attached to ya," the orange creature observed. _

_The Once-ler laughed aloud. "That's a bit of an understatement." He lifted the arm off of his stomach to pet the Bar-ba-loot on the head. Pipsqueak leaned into his hand, chirruping happily, and the man sighed. Stars filled his vision as he spoke. "You know, sometimes I wish I could stay here forever."_

"_By the river?" the Lorax asked skeptically. _

_He shook his head, gently rubbing his knuckles between the Bar-ba-loot's ears. "No, not the river. It brings back bad memories." He fixed the miniature creature with a pointed glare, which the Lorax tactfully ignored. "But to stay here, in the forest…," he inhaled deeply, "it's all so calm here, so peaceful…."_

_The Lorax smirked, "well, I never saw you as a poet, beanpole." The Once-ler rolled his eyes again, and continued petting the Barbaloot nestled into the side of his neck. _

"_Ha ha," he drawled. "But don't laugh—I actually like this place. A lot. Sure is better than what I live in back home."_

_The Lorax hummed once, absently. The Once-ler shrugged slightly at the silence he was met with, before suddenly yawning widely. Pipsqueak watched in awe at how wide his mouth stretched, before getting the same idea as the man, and snuggled deeper into the crook of his neck. The Once-ler tiredly patted the Bar-ba-loot's head, before his eyes flickered to the creature beside him once more. The Lorax was still looking over the forest—the trees—as was his job. _

_His eyelids drooping, the Once-ler mumbled,"Y'know, watching the trees may be your job and everything…but I bet that even creatures of legend make mistakes every now and then." He yawned again. "S'what makes us human…or whatever it is you are."_

"_I'm the Lorax," the creature said matter-of-factly. _

"_Yeah…I don't think I could forget that."_

* * *

The Once-ler tracked a few clouds floating across the multihued sky, the sun having already sunk behind the horizon, leaving a myriad of colors behind—pinks, blues, orange, and purple, streaked across the sky. He inhaled deeply, eyes closing, breathing in the new, fresh air.

The factories in Thneedville had all been closed, and once that happened, the air quality seemed to improve. With the help of the townsfolk, they had cleaned out as much as they could from the river, and stopped the flow of sewage and trash into it. The land on the other side of The Wall was cultivated and watered, and soon patches of verdant green grass began spreading out around the valley. Back in the park where the last seed was planted, the other squares of fake grass were torn up, to give the Truffula seed room to spread and grow. The floating pollen fibers had taken root all over the land, so soon there were hundreds of small sprouts all throughout. And everyone had a little twelve year old boy to thank.

The old man grinned proudly, and stepped off of his newly repainted porch. The dirt didn't crunch under his boots anymore, and the fresh air and clear sky permitted him to actually enjoy his daily strolls. Although, he soon found himself traveling a familiar path.

He soon passed the First Stump, the stones still circling it reverently, and he allowed himself a bittersweet smile as he passed. That was what had started it all…

In what felt like no time at all, the Once-ler had reached the riverbed. Peering into the dark water with his hands behind his back, he frowned grimly. While the river had been cleaned up sufficiently, the Hummingfish had yet to return, and the few Swomee-Swans he'd seen flying overhead hadn't drunk from it yet. In all, not very encouraging, and the elderly man feared that it would never return to its former state, all those years ago.

He had been about to turn away and head bock towards his home, when a voice startled him. "Hey, Mr. Once-ler."

The gangly old man had whipped around as quickly as his age and brittle bones would permit, and found, startlingly, Ted lying on a patch of lush grass a few feet away from the riverbank, arms folded behind his head. The Once-ler cocked his head to side in curiosity, and the familiarity of the situation struck him.

"Hello, Ted," he greeted, stepping forward. The curiosity didn't leave his pale blue eyes. "What are doing on the ground?"

The boy shrugged. "Just waiting for the stars to come out. I never could see them back home, because of all the smog and chemicals in the sky."

The Once-ler was silent for an instant, expression faraway. He finally spoke again, gesturing towards the empty patch of grass beside the child. "Mind if I join you?"

Ted blinked, but before he could shake his head, the elderly man had already taken off his top hat and laid it gently on the ground, before carefully lying down on the grass as well. As the Once-ler folded his arms over his stomach, the boy allowed a small grin to make its way onto his face. _The same old Once-ler…._

"Have you ever thought of other planets being up there?"

The Once-ler faltered, turning to look towards the boy beside him. Ted didn't notice the man's stunned expression. He coughed once, before nodding. "I should think so."

Ted chuckled, before glancing over his companion. He was surprised by the haggard look in his aged features. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, he carefully asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Hm?" the Once-ler snapped out of his reverie. "Oh...perfectly fine, Ted. Just…ruminating…."

"About what?"

The Once-ler huffed silently. "Determined kid, aren'tcha…" he muttered, before continuing on-topic. "About my choices, what my actions led to...though _that's_ a bit obvious. And…I'm worried that the animals won't come back…the Bar-ba-loots, Swomee-Swans, Humming-Fish…."

Ted's brow furrowed. "But there've been a bunch of those swans things flying around here."

"Yes, but none of them have landed," the elderly man sighed. "It's like they're just surveying the land…"

"Well I'm sure that the forest animals will all come back," the twelve-year-old affirmed. "The townspeople are all doing their best with the trash and air quality, and Mr. O'Hare's already been kicked out of the mayor's office."

The Once-ler nodded admittedly. "I suppose…though, I have you to thank for all of these changes." A pondering look crossed his features. "Did I already thank you?"

Ted nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh…well then it won't hurt to say it again—thank you," the Once-ler said brightly.

"You know…you're really weird."

"I know," the old man acknowledged, as the stars finally began appearing in the ebony sky. "It's what makes me human."


End file.
